Melissa Mueller
Academics

Melissa Mueller Featured as Spotlight Scholar

Melissa Mueller, professor of classics, was honored as a Spotlight Scholar this month.

Mueller is a literary scholar and critic who studies early Greek poetry, from Homer through Greek tragedy. In her work, she draws on a range of theories and ideas from across the humanities and social sciences. Her first book, “Objects as Actors: Props and the Poetics of Performance in Greek Tragedy," draws on new materialisms, a branch of critical theory that highlights the importance of objects and other material entities, to examine the stage lives of props in Greek tragedy. Her recent scholarship for her forthcoming book applies reparative reading—a theoretical perspective developed by the late literary scholar and queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick—to Sappho, an archaic Greek female poet known for her lyric poetry and for centering same-sex female desire in her lyrics.

Through her teaching and scholarship, Mueller aims to make classics approachable and relevant.

“I’m interested in reading Greek literature in ways that can speak to audiences—especially readers new to the study of classics—today," she said.

Mueller also mentors up-and-coming scholars as co-editor of the book series, “Ancient Cultures, New Materialisms." In addition, she is a mentor with the Asian and Asian American Classical Caucus (AAACC), a group working to support young scholars of Asian descent and to diversify the field of Classics.

Learn more about Mueller and other Spotlight Scholars.